Yogilates (Workout One)
Reviews from VideoFitness
This workout is approximately 41 minutes with warmup and cooldown. However, the video is technically divided into three sections:
Section 1 - 13 minutes of warmup, pilates mat work, and supine yoga poses
Section 2 - 12 minutes of sitting, prone, and kneeling yoga poses
Section 3 - 16 minutes of standing yoga poses and cooldown
I really enjoy this workout. If you regularly practice pilates or yoga, then this tape is not too much of a challenge, but that's what I like about it. I have been practicing yoga for two years and sometimes I just like to do a gentle and relaxing workout. This is the tape I pick.
The mat work is pretty basic and only in the 1st segment. The rest of the tape is almost all yoga poses.
Jonathan has a background exerciser showing modifications for the beginner.
I think that this tape would be good for an exerciser that has done a bit of yoga and possibly pilates as well. Jonathan's instructions are good, and even a beginner would probably be able to get benefits from this tape and be able to grow into it.
Jonathan is a very good instructor. His voice is very calming. His cueing is precise. He's very easy to follow.
This is a very pleasant yoga/Pilates workout with a great instructor. I was actually looking for something similar to Grace Lazenby's All the Right Moves, and this is *not* it (too easy), but still a tape that I think lots of people at VF will enjoy. This is great for beginning yogists (I don't think that's a word, but you know what I mean), and also for those who aren't really into yoga but would like to get the benefit of some of the flexibility and relaxation aspects of it. It's about 45 minutes long, and is broken into different sections, so you don't necessarily have to do it all at once. The Pilates exercises are about as beginning-level as you can get: for example, the 100 is done with bent legs and you don't really do 100 breaths. So, in addition to being good for yoga beginners, it's good for Pilates beginners.
Jonathan Urla seems to know his stuff, cues well, lets you know what's coming, etc. He's enthusiastic and engaging without being obnoxious about it. He doesn't talk to much either, which can be annoying in this type of workout.
While this one is not for me, I was impressed enough to investigate whether there is a Workout Two, since this one is subtitled Workout One. There is, and it's supposed to be more challenging, so I'll be ordering it. (Their web site is www.yogilates.com.) Grade A+.